open sea

Chapter 892 Cost
Chen Mu didn't know that the design drawings he sent to Majiagang would be magically altered by Zhao Yongxian.

He was complacent because of this decision, and described the grand blueprint for the future to Zhao Shizhen, and his brows were brimming with joy when he spoke, which made Zhao Shizhen doze off.

In fact, there was nothing special about it. Secretary Zhao, who had followed Chen Mu for many years, knew very well that his own commander-in-chief used his official position and influence to mobilize Ming resources to do business and make profits.

It's not surprising at all, basically any experienced businessman in Chen Mu's position can do these things well, and it may be more profitable than him.

But the problem is that there is no such person. In the entire Ming Dynasty, only Chen Mu is the only one who combines multiple identities such as an important court official who is far away from the political vortex, a victorious general who fights wherever he goes, a frightening pirate leader, and a profiteer who speculates and makes huge profits. .

You never know what he is doing, and you can never figure out what he is thinking.

Any normal person, such as Fatty Zhao from Majiagang, sees Chen Mu's order to put cashmere military uniforms, goose down vests and woolen coats on the thousands of flag troops stationed in Majiagang. It's just too expensive.

After this idea came into being, every dedicated official would think about how to reduce the cost while keeping the flag army warm and ensuring the quality. So Zhao Yongxian thought of letting Zhangzhou and Quanzhou weaving households who are good at weaving make cashmere cloth for them. Well, Majiagang does not need to recruit and train a large number of weavers, and the cost is reduced.

Although it is still very expensive after the reduction, it seems that it is not so unbearable compared to the high income of the tens of thousands of registered tribal people in Majiagang who produce a large amount of forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery every year.

As for Zhao Shizhen, after knowing this incident, his idea was to rip off the Spaniards and find a way to lower the purchase price of cashmere and wool.

The idea came so naturally.

Naturally, it was frightening when it was first born, and Zhao Shizhen felt ashamed at the first moment, and in the next few seconds, he stared at Jing Haibo who was eloquent with resentful eyes, and fell into deep thought.

'What turned an ignorant Tai student into a mechanical unit that bullies neighboring countries with no regard for righteousness, huh?What exactly is it?Where did such disparity change come from? '

It was Chen Mu who temporarily promoted each member of the Hundred Household Department to one level, and then expanded the 110 people into the Thousand Household Department to assign official officials, and asked them to train the Three Guards Banner Army. Sent to Nanjing and Yangzhou, it was said that it was extremely precious to count two overseas, and was it affected when they started hunger marketing to earn huge profits for the Nanyang military government?
Yes.

It was three ships of goods that were exchanged from the Portuguese for the garrison power in Malacca and the Lion Kingdom. When everyone was applauding and excited that the Nanyang military government could go to the other side of Malacca for free trade in the future, I heard it from Chen Mu. Is the real intention of setting up a tax card in Malacca?

Yes.

It was only after serving as a staff member that I realized that except for Chen Mu's direct lineage, the capitals in other places had to use several times or even more than ten times the raw materials to replace the new armaments, and all the officers still enjoyed it and thought that they had earned it?
Yes, yes... That's right, it's because of Chen Mu.

Listen to what he has to say!

When Zhao Shizhen heard that Chen Mu planned to popularize good-quality, warm woolen uniforms for soldiers from Jizhen in the future, Xu Wei pointed out that such a cost was unacceptable to the court, and they actually saw it from Chen Mu's face. stunned.

Then the four words spoken by the important minister of Beiyang seemed to be a slap in the face: "What cost?"

The indifferent look, the unfeigned surprise, seemed that what he was talking about was not the new winter military uniforms that cost six times as much as the cotton clothes for each flag soldier, but a white cotton cloth of three renminbi.

He said: "The wool comes from the sheep. I want the wool from Spain. Of course the cost should be borne by the Spaniards."

Zhao Shizhen raised his hand very quickly to interrupt Chen Mu, blinked and said, "I don't understand, don't you want to buy wool?"

"Of course I have to buy it. I have calculated that if our merchant ships sail to Spain to buy their wool, the price will be about twenty catties and three taels of silver; if we buy it at the border, it may cost five taels for twenty catties. , so I'm going to have them ship the wool across the border."

Zhao Shizhen didn't even have to think about it in his heart, and blurted out: "It's too expensive. It's better to buy wool spinning and weaving cloth in China. Twenty catties of wool in the north can be bought for only two taels of silver."

"What's more, it's cheaper to buy in Spain, why send them to the border, it's more expensive."

Chen Mu calculated the small accounts very seriously, raised his hand and scratched his cheek, gestured on the table and said: "Because first of all, the purpose of trade is to prevent others from making money. When we buy wool in Spain, we have to pay Mr. Fei Pay taxes, pay taxes to the Pope, but I don't want to pay them."

"Secondly, when you buy things in Spain, you spend real money, and you have to give them silver."

Hey, that's what I said.

Zhao Shizhen said: "Could it be that money is not money at the border?"

"It's also money, but it's the printed Tongbao, and there's no need to reprint it. They always bring back the goods when they come over. Whether it's silk, satin, porcelain, or future guns and armor, they are all bartered. For example, I Buy 20 catties of wool with 20 taels, I get [-] catties of wool, and he gets [-] taels of silver."

"He can't go back empty. The most profitable goods here are silk and porcelain. If he wants to, he has to exchange silver for Tongbao. One tael of silver can be exchanged for eight hundred Tongbao. What he got is [-] Tongbao, which is the best." Lu silk can’t be bought anymore, so I can only buy a piece of cotton silk or a box of coarse porcelain with Chen’s calligraphy—now, what do I have? What does he have?”

Chen Mu drew on the table with his finger pointing at the tea, and said while drawing: "I have returned 20 taels of silver, and [-] Tongbao. I got [-] catties of wool, but I lost a bolt of cotton silk or a box. Coarse porcelain."

"He got this, he has to transport the goods from here to the seaside for loading, and he has to buy water and food from the Gulf of Mexico, and live for a few days in between. Others such as sailor's salary are not counted. Who will earn the cost of transporting the goods? Already? Let the aborigines who co-govern New Spain make money, and they have a lot of work here, which promotes the prosperity of New Spain."

"As for the cotton silk and porcelain I lost, the price in Daming was eight cents a piece of silver, and the porcelain plates, bowls, and vases were two cents a piece of silver, and a set was only one cent silver. Our military government collects 12 Tongbao in taxes, merchants leave Hong Kong to exchange for [-] taels and eight cents for silver, and return to Tianjin to dock and pay the customs two taels, five and eight cents, making a net profit of more than ten times."

In the end, Chen Mu came to a conclusion: "Businessmen made a net profit, the imperial court made a net profit from tariffs, the military government made a net profit from tariffs, and Chen made some money when he got the wool. He gave monthly money to the weavers, and the wool turned into wool and then spun into wool. Boo, where is the cost?"

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)